Embodiments of the present invention are directed to word games, and more particularly, to word games based on linking letter pairs or triplets and linking words that are transformations of each other.
For entertainment, education, and for maintenance or restoration of good brain function, there are innumerable kinds of word puzzles and games. None are based on linking word parts (letter combinations in a fixed arrangement such as “LE” and “ARN”, which we will call “word bits”) to build words. Very few are known that are based on linking words based on the similarities and differences of their letter patterns, such as MINE and WIND (which differ by the first and fourth letters) beyond one-letter differences. Word games for players who do not know how to read words or even the letters of the alphabet are also unknown.
For building words, there are innumerable popular games and puzzles of various shapes and forms where words are created and/or transformed, but all involve linking individual letters. Games like “SCRABBLE,” “BOGGLE,” and “BANANAGRAMS,” and puzzles like “JUMBLE” are familiar to many. Newer games like “DABBLE” and “BULL'S EYE” are being introduced still. U.S. Pat. No. 6,986,512 B2 describes a word assembly game where individual letters are used to build and to steal words from opponents. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0009736 describes a word building game where individual letters are extracted from two different words. In schools, there are games and activities involving letter sets used for teaching, but they are not very sophisticated or interesting. What has been lacking is the approach of utilizing word bits to create a completely different family of linking-based activities that are diverse and fun and can be played over and over.
Embodiments of the present invention mainly involve the use of word bits instead of or in addition to individual letters. The word bit is an indivisible unit, and so letters in the word bits cannot be rearranged. Pairing just two two-letter word bits is enough to form a four-letter word; and many of the games of the present invention have been designed around this concept. In addition, multiple word bits can be combined (each adjacent pair forming a word) into straight and branched chains. To illustrate, BA-RE-ST-AR-BE is a short chain that contains the words BARE, REST, STAR, and BEAR. Note that the above chain is identical to BE-AR-ST-RE-BA; and relative orientation of two bits does not affect the word formation. Branching is accomplished by linking to a unit within the chain (e.g., AY to ST to form STAY), and multiple branching can lead to loops and clusters. This linking operation, not possible with individual letters, is the basis for many of the games and puzzles described herein. Many games have variations where adjacent word bits don't have to form a word but should differ by a letter, and these are good for non-readers or non-English speakers. Related games include “DOMINOS,” which is not a word game, and the more complicated whole-word chaining game described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,604. U.S. Pat. No. 6,623,009 mentions a word game with game cards containing multiple, random letters, but these letters are not used together like word bits in forming words.
For linking words, the classic game (a puzzle) is Lewis Carroll's centuries old “Doublets,” where one word is transformed to another (the target word) via a series of intermediate words that change one letter at a time. An example of this “word chain” puzzle is DUCK to SWAN, the solution being DUCK to DOCK to SOCK to SOAK to SOAP to SWAP to SWAN. U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,062 describes a computer program for creating and solving Doublets puzzles. The limitation of Carroll's Doublets is that in the collection there are only a few hundred pairs of related words, usually short (3-5 letters long). For longer words few puzzles exist, and the solutions are usually difficult long chains. There is no form of assistance given to the player other than to specify the number of steps. Finally, Parker Brothers' “SCRABBLE SLAM” is a commercialized card game where words are continuously transformed one letter at a time, but with no target word. The serious limitation of these games with single-letter changes is that, for any particular word, the possible transformations are few in number, so that few words can be generated.
Making word chain puzzles like Carroll's Doublets has been improved by embodiments of the present invention in at least two major ways: (1) by presenting the puzzle in an innovative grid that contains built-in guides as well as optional aids that are readily available but easy to forgo; and (2) by changing the word-to-word transformation from a one-letter change to a two-letter change (or even a three-letter change). Changing two or three letters at a time allows transformation of a word to many more new words, such that many paths to the target word are possible. So the creation of puzzles with longer words and shorter solutions, and/or with more interesting pairs of words however diverse, has been accomplished.
Doublets puzzles where the related words to be linked do not have to be of the same length have been made possible by combining the transformation of letter replacement with the addition of one or two letters and removal of one or two letters. This new approach has allowed the creation of a new breed of doublets. These are especially suitable as educational puzzles, using as word pairs synonyms, antonyms, and associated words such as ADHERE to STICK, GIGANTIC to SMALL, and CARDIAC to HEART.